Do London Differently by London National Park City

Episode type: London Walking Festival 2026 Special (final episode) Recorded at: Church of St. Bartholomew the Great, London Guest: David Harrison, co-founder of Footways and creator of the Historic Ways map In the final walking festival special of the series, Michael talks to David Harrison at St Bartholomew the Great about the deep history of walking in London. David traces the surviving evidence...

Walking is London's most common form of transport, but it rarely gets the attention it deserves. In this London Walking Festival special, Michael Shilling sits down with Will Norman, London's Walking and Cycling Commissioner, to unpack TfL's new Walking and Wheeling Action Plan. Will explains why wheeling is now named alongside walking for the first time, what the plan's three...

Filmed on location along the route by Michael Shilling, with Lola May (Community Climate Action Coordinator, Paddington Development Trust) and Eman Asir (Library Officer, Westminster Libraries). What is The Natural Way? A fully accessible, six-mile circular walking route through North Paddington, inspired by the Camino de Santiago and Europe's pilgrimage trails. Walkers collect stamps designe...

Episode: Walking Festival Special Recorded at: London National Park City Visitor Centre, Mortimer Street Host: Michael Shilling Guests:  Catherine Woodhead, CEO, Living Streets Emma Griffin, Co-founder, Footways Episode Summary: A National Walking Month special exploring the state of walking in London and beyond. Catherine Woodhead shares the near-100-year history of Living Streets and its current...

London Rivers Week turns 10 this year, and we are celebrating with a special episode. Liz Gyekye, Communications Manager at Thames 21, joins host Michael Shilling to talk about the festival, the charity's work protecting the River Thames and its tributaries, and how you can get involved. Running from 23 to 31 May as part of the London Walking Festival, London Rivers Week features around 40 ev...

Episode summary: Michael Shilling talks to Scott Oughton-Johnson, founder of The Proper Blokes Club, about how a single walk in Southwark in September 2020 grew into a network of 25 to 30 walk-and-talk groups for men across London. They discuss men's mental health, the power of walking side by side, how to start a new group, and plans for a new Pimlico walk as part of the London Walking Festi...

Episode summary: Michael Shilling talks to Dr Tom Cohen, Reader in Transport Policy at the University of Westminster, about the London Walking Festival Conference 2026, the work of the Active Travel Academy, the evolving language of "walking and wheeling," road safety, delivery riders as the new folk devil, and why Disney World might be the most walkable place on earth. Guest: Dr Tom Coh...

Michael is joined by Paul Wood, co-founder of the Urban Tree Festival and author of Tree Hunting , and Sarah Hayes, festival director and public artist, for a conversation about the festival's ninth year, its new home at Art Hub Studios in New Cross, and the growing movement to celebrate and protect London's urban trees. Key topics The origins of the Urban Tree Festival, growing out of t...

A special roundtable edition recorded at the London National Park City Visitor Centre, 80 Mortimer Street, London In this episode, London National Park City director Mark Cridge sits down with four community food growing leaders to explore how the Right to Grow movement is taking root across the capital. From housing estates in Tower Hamlets to empty greenhouses in Newham, the conversation covers...

Lola May sits down with Hana Sutch, founder of the walking app Go Jauntly, for a conversation about the joy of getting lost in London, the hidden histories you can discover on foot, and why the UK is one of the least nature-connected countries in the world. They cover: 🚶 Why urban walks are the best walks (and how to start if you're not a confident walker) 🗺️ The French art of flânerie and d...

London isn’t just a city with parks, it’s a city that is wild. In this episode of Do London Differently, host Michael Shilling is joined by Kassondra Cloos, author of An Opinionated Guide to Wild London, published by Hoxton Mini Press. We talk about the hidden places that make you feel miles from the capital without ever leaving it, from reed beds behind King’s Cross to wetlands near The O2. We al...

In this episode, we hear from Aneel, a member of Heston Action Group, volunteer at Heston Community Garden, and National Park City Ranger. He talks about being there from the early days of the garden, helping create its wildlife pond, and seeing it become home to newts and other species. Aneel also shares the story behind Moth Night, an event designed to bring people into the garden and help them...

Football is community, identity, ritual, and emotion at scale. It also has a footprint, from travel to sponsorship to tournament design. Recorded live at Nature of Things, A Salon for the curious mind, this episode is a practical, honest Q&A between Lola May (Paddington Development Trust) and Dan Hall (Football for Future) on what “sustainable football” could actually look like, and how fans,...

Put your earphones on, step outside, and notice what most people glide past: who can actually get here. In this interview, I’m joined by Hounslow Ranger Tarek Mrad, who’s delivering a clear message: accessibility has to be built, not just said. Tarek shares why many green spaces still aren’t properly wheelchair accessible, why transport is often the biggest barrier (sometimes starting at the bus s...

London gets reimagined as a virtual orchard stitched together by back gardens, street trees, parks, and the people willing to show up with a long pole and a tarpaulin. You’ll hear how the Kensal to Kilburn Fruit Harvesters built a pickers list, gained access to hundreds of local gardens, and turned seasonal harvests into community benefit, from food bank donations to juice pressing, jam making, ch...

Football is the world’s biggest cultural language, and climate change is the biggest challenge we face. In this live Nature of Things salon (Paddington Development Trust), Dan Hall, Communications Manager at Football for Future, explores what happens when those two worlds collide. Dan shares why football is such a powerful place to shift attitudes, how extreme weather is already disrupting matches...

Ranger Emily joins members of RSPB Croydon for a birdwatching walk in Happy Valley and Farthing Downs in South Croydon. We spot and hear a whole range of birds, including redwings, gold crests, kites, and long-tailed tits, and learn about why citizen science is so crucial for tracking patterns in bird numbers. You can be a citizen scientist too by taking part in the RSPB Big Garden Bird Watch on 2...

Is Paris really a benchmark for cycling? At the end of last year I joined MPs, peers and cycling leaders on an All Party Parliamentary Group for Cycling and Walking day trip to Paris. I wasn’t there as a lobbyist, or as London National Park City, but as the videographer and photographer, capturing a two dozen strong group whizzing through Parisian streets on Lime bikes. We boarded the 7am Eurostar...

In this episode, London National Park City Ranger Nancy Turner shares the story of how Heston Action Group grew from simple litter picks into a thriving community garden and a wider movement to “green the grey”. Nancy talks about: How the group started, and how volunteering on Sunday mornings helped shape the space The reality of community gardening, big jobs, limited hands, and learning as you go...

In this New Year episode we’re taking a quick look back at what’s been happening across London National Park City in 2025, from £80,000 redistributed through 112 community projects to a Ranger community now 160+ strong , Then we’ll set your 2026 walking intentions with three Go Jauntly challenges, build towards the London Walking Festival’s big May goal, and open the first page of our book club pi...

Paula Harvey is building something rare in North London: a permanent outdoor learning and wellbeing space where every family can belong, including SEND families who are too often split apart by inaccessible provision. Through Urban Forest Tribe CIC , she is turning a blank canvas site in N11 into a thriving Forest School home, but she needs support now - funding, materials (especially timber ), an...

Recorded live at This is Nature+ at Camley Street Natural Park, this episode brings together London National Park City Ranger Becky Lyon and Imogen Malpas (founder of climate-conscious clubbing collective Club SOL ) to explore how we can make contact with nature through everyday culture, sound, and the senses.  In this episode What counts as “nature engagement”, and who gets to define it Raves, co...

Recorded live at Camley Street Nature Park , in collaboration with Open Area . Moja Collective founder Shukura Babirye sits down with Ijaz Kato for a warm, honest conversation about how an Instagram page celebrating diverse experiences in nature unexpectedly grew into a monthly walking community - and why slowing down, paying attention and sharing access matters. They explore how Moja Collective’s...

What if your phone could help you care for the trees on your street, not just scroll past them In this live conversation – recorded in collaboration with Open Area at Camley Street Nature Park in October 2025 – artist Rachy McEwan and technologist, guerrilla gardener and nature rights campaigner Kalpana Arias explore how art, code and community action can work together to protect and restore urban...

We visited a new pocket park carved out from the Coulsdon South station car park, created to tempt the local cycling group (and everyone else) away from the tarmac and into a greener, friendlier meeting place. What started as “somewhere nicer to wait with a coffee” has grown into an outdoor classroom and community hub: rail-safety learning for Cubs, Scouts, nearby schools and adults with learning...